After Admission to Candidacy,* each student must successfully complete a four-hour comprehensive examination. The student must be enrolled during the semester in which he/she takes the comprehensive examination. This comprehensive examination is usually taken during a student's final semester of enrollment in the program. The exams are scheduled twice a year: usually in mid to late November of each Fall semester and in mid to late April of each Spring semester. The examination will have the following format:

• Administration: A three-member M.A. Examination Committee (the student's advisor, who usually chairs the examination committee, and two faculty members selected by the student) will create the exam after soliciting questions from all graduate faculty members in the field(s) of the exam, and will oversee the grading of the exam as Pass, Fail, or Delayed Decision. The exams will be kept anonymous during the grading. In preparation for the examination, it is expected that the student will meet with his/her advisor and members of the Examination Committee for guidance regarding the exam. After he/she has received the exam grade, the student may meet with the Committee in order to review the exam and receive feedback on it. The examination itself will not be released to the student.

• Written examination. NOTE: For TTS students, at least one quarter of the examination will be on the coursework they have taken to complete the core degree requirements in linguistics, literature and culture.
  • Essay topic (two hours): The student will choose two essay topics out of five provided. The proposed topics will be based on the Graduate Reading List of the student's M.A. track. Students may develop the topic in either English or Spanish.
  • Short answer questions (two hours): The student will write short paragraphs in response to six (6) questions based on the Graduate Reading List and/or courses taken by the student. The structure for this portion of the examination is the following:
    1. Answer three of the following four questions
    2. Answer three of the following four questions
    Students must answer the questions in the language in which they are asked, either English or Spanish.

• Oral examination (30 minutes): If the written examination has been evaluated as “Delayed Decision,” the examinee will be required to take an additional 30-minute oral examination before the final grade is determined. The oral exam will be based on the written exam, and will be developed and administered by the Examination Committee, which will oversee the evaluation of the oral exam. It is expected that the oral examination will be scheduled within one week (seven days) after the examinee has received an evaluation of the written exam.

*For Admission to Candidacy, it is the student's responsibility to complete and submit to the Graduate School, in compliance with the deadlines published by the Graduate School, the Application for Admission to Candidacy (Application for Admission to Candidacy) and the Application for Degree (Application for Degree). A copy of these Applications must also be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator of the M.A. in Spanish and filed in the Department of Languages and Culture Studies.